Shop From Your Sofa. (Shop!)

Member Name: DaisyDuck

Product:	Shop!
Date:	25/06/01 (392 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Wide range

Disadvantages: Delivery patchy.

Shop! Available 24 hours per day on ondigital,satellite and cable.

What is it? Well it is a television shopping channel backed by littlewoods selling all the things that you would find in a Littlewoods Catalogue.

The quality of the shows....Well considering that most of them are recorded and repeated, not that brilliant.

The format...Is very similar to QVC having one or two hour themed shows such as Jewellery Shop,Kitchen Shop,Collectors Shop,Home Shop and so on. The main difference being that they generally have two presenters on each show.

The presenters...they have recruited a few minor ex. QVC presenters Simon Brown,Greg Something or other, and Fiona Farrell. Recently they have taken on two more well known QVC presenters Dave Bradford and Dean Wilson. The others are generally local radio and TV presenters from the Granada region.
They all try quite hard but often have difficulty using the products and often drop things.

The Presentation...This trys to copy QVC but fails somehow. The camera work in particular on the jewellery seems poor and doesn't make it all appealing.
The two presenter approach is the part that brings a smile to my lips. While one presenter is talking the other one beams inanely into the camera, look out for Steve Hyland on the technology shop show as he is the master of the silly grin.

Special Offers.

Deal of the Day.. This is a new one offering one item at a special low price for one day. An out and out copy of QVC's Todays Special Value.

Killer Deals.. These are various items shown every half hour on a while stocks last basis.

Preview Hours... Usually around 11pm showing a selection of goods to be aired the following day at 10% discount if ordered during the preview.

The discount club... For £29.95 annual membership fee you can 10% of anything.

The prices... Generally the same as the catalogues, they do have lots of sales thoug
h.

Post and Packing. Only £2.95 per order whatever it is. They often have free P&P promotions.
Delivery is advertised as within 3 working days but can take a lot longer.

Have I bought anything from Shop?
Well I have made a couple of purchases with differing results.
You can phone orders through on a free number or order via the website.
My first order for a couple of storage boxes in a Warehouse Clearance Sale took a couple of months to be delivered and at the time I said never again. If it's a warehouse clearance how can they be out of stock? One thing to their credit was that they didn't charge the boxes until they had been despatched.

The second time things went a lot better. I saw a washing machine being demonstrated on the TV and it was at a special household week price. I didn't write down the product number there and then, but checked it out on the internet site the next day.
I decided to phone the order through because I wanted to check the installation arrangements. When I asked for the special price I was told it must be internet only, when I pointed out it had been on the TV a supervisor was consulted and they eventually let me have it at that price.
Although I had gotten my own way I felt a little aggrieved at the we will do it as a favour attitude. The machine was delivered and installed within 3 working days and I was satisfied with the service.

My main problem with Shop is that unlike QVC they do not have any good skincare or cross stitch shows and that the shows are repeated so frequently.This also means that they take very few on air customer phonecalls which are generally very amusing.
The good points are that otherwise the range is fairly comprehensive.

My favourite parts.. The mistakes. Yesterday the toilet cystern in the bathroom set fell off the wall during a demonstration.

My verdict. O.K. to watch if you looking for something in particular or there
is nothing else on TV. A useful service for people who can't get out to browse around the shops.

Summary: